Appendix C - Biographies of CAAC Members and Alternates and Access Board Representatives

Robert L. Andrukonis, AIA Andrukonis represents the General Services Administrative (GSA) on the Committee. As director of GSA’s Center for Courthouse Programs, he is responsible for the oversight, program management, and budgeting of this $10 billion program which includes approximately 160 new courthouses or courthouse annexes throughout the country. Prior to joining the Center, he was part of GSA’s National Capital Region’s Architectural Section for 22 years where he was responsible for design and design review of regional projects and ensured project compliance with applicable accessibility standards.

Honorable Joseph F. Bataillon Appointed U.S. District Judge in 1997, Judge Bataillon serves as Chief Judge for the District of Nebraska. He also serves as Chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference’s Subcommittee on Space Standards of the Committee on Security and Facilities, which is responsible for overseeing the space needs of the Federal judiciary. He serves as its representative on the Advisory Committee. Prior to his judicial appointment, he was in private practice for over 16 years and before that served as Deputy Public Defender for Douglas County for six years. He is also a member of the Administrative Office of the Courts’ Budget and Finance Committee and the Federal Judges Association Board of Directors and chairs the Nebraska State Bar Association’s Budget and Planning Committee.

James L. Beight, AIA A courthouse designer with over 25 years of experience, Beight represents the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on the Committee. The AIA represents the professional interests of 72,000 licensed architects and allied professionals. He has planned and designed court projects for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, GSA, and many county court projects across the country. Beight is Principal-in-Charge and senior courts planner and designer for PSA-Dewberry, Inc.

Diana Bender [Alternate for Marcia M. Finisdore] Bender represents the Hearing Loss Association of America, the nation’s largest organization for people with hearing loss, which she joined in 1995. She is active in the HLAA’s Pennsylvania state chapter, and currently serves as its Director and as a member of its Advisory Council. She was also employed as a chemist with Rohm and Haas Company, a specialty materials company.

John G. Biechman [Alternate for Nancy McNabb] Biechman represents the National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA) on the Committee. NFPA serves as the world's leading advocate of fire prevention by providing and advocating scientifically-based consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. Its membership totals more than 75,000 individuals from around the world. As Vice President for Government Affairs, Biechman represents NFPA before Congress and Federal agencies on safety issues, including building, fire, and electrical codes, fire prevention and education, emergency preparedness, and homeland security.

Don W. Birdsall Birdsall is Director of Marketing for Lift-U, a division of Hogan Manufacturing, Inc., which designs and manufactures courtroom lifts. He holds a degree in mechanical engineering and has been involved in the design and marketing of lifts for courtrooms. He is also Director of the Accessibility Equipment Manufacturers Association (AEMA).

Janet L. Blizard Blizard is a Deputy Section Chief in the Disability Rights Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division. The Disability Rights Section is responsible for enforcing ADA requirements under DOJ’s purview. She is responsible for developing and implementing the Department’s ADA regulations, including those governing the design and operation of state and local courthouses. Blizard also serves as DOJ’s liaison to the U.S. Access Board and has been active in the development of accessibility guidelines under the ADA.

Douglas Boydston [alternate for Gregory L. Harmon] Boydston is President of Handi-Lift Inc., an installer of accessibility equipment. He represents the Accessibility Equipment Manufacturers Association (AEMA) on the Committee as an alternate. He also serves as vice chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) A18 Committee which maintains the A18.1 Safety Standard for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts. The A18 Committee, which was established in 1996 to develop standards for lifts separately from the elevator code, is currently developing new rules for special application lifts, including courtroom lifts.

Kevin Brinkman [alternate for Gregory L. Harmon] Brinkman is Director of Engineering at National Wheel-O-Vator Co., which manufactures accessibility equipment, including lifts and elevators. He represents the Accessibility Equipment Manufacturers Association (AEMA) on the Committee as an alternate. He is also co-chair of the AEMA Codes and Standards Committee.

Honorable Patricia A. Broderick Judge Broderick became an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia in 1998. She served in the Family Division before joining the Criminal Division in 2000. She recently completed two years service in the Felony I section and is currently assigned to the Civil Division. Judge Broderick also teaches trial advocacy at George Washington University Law School and is an instructor in the Emory University Law School Trial Technique Program.

David P. Calvert, PA Calvert served as a Kansas District Judge for 11 years and was Chair of the Kansas Supreme Court Commission on Opening the Courts from 1992 to 1998. An attorney who has practiced law for 38 years, he has specialized in litigation for access under the ADA. He also has 20 years experience as a trial lawyer.

Patrick D. Cannon Cannon is State Director of the Michigan Commission for the Blind, a position he was appointed to in 1997. The Commission provides vocational rehabilitation, independent living services, and other services for persons who are blind and also operates a residential training center. Previously, he served as Director of the Michigan Commission on Disability Concerns for 10 years. In 1995, he was appointed by the President to the U.S. Access Board, where he served two four-year terms as a public member and as the Board’s Chair in 1997. Cannon is a member of the National Rehabilitation Association, the Council of State Administrators in Vocational Rehabilitation, and serves on the Executive Board of the National Council of State Agencies for the Blind.

Michael A. Crackel, AIA [alternate for Tom P. Rowe] Crackel is a Senior Associate with Michael Graves & Associates, a professional architectural design firm located in Princeton, New Jersey and New York City. He has been involved in numerous civic building projects, including a Federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Marcia Finisdore On the Committee, Finisdore represents the Hearing Loss Association of America (HLAA), the nation’s largest organization for people with hearing loss. HLAA exists to open the world of communication for people with hearing loss through information, education, advocacy and support. She has been a member of HLAA since 1989 and served on its Board of Trustees from 1990 to 2002. She has also served as HLAA’s State Director for Pennsylvania. With degrees in nursing and nursing education, she has varied work experience in psychiatric nursing, nursing education and case management for people with HIV/AIDS.

John Fusco [alternate for Don W. Birdsall] Fusco is Director of Marketing for Lift-U, a division of Hogan Manufacturing, Inc., which designs and manufactures courtroom lifts. He has been involved in the marketing of lifts for courtrooms and other applications.

Warrick Graham, AIA Graham is a Project Director with the Cook County Office of Capital Planning & Policy, which is responsible for the construction, expansion, renovation, and restoration of county-owned facilities, including courthouses. The Cook County court system is the second largest unified court system (criminal, civil, family law & traffic) in the nation. Graham was responsible for the County’s ADA Compliance Project to bring all county facilities into compliance with the design requirements of the ADA. Graham is a licensed architect with 14 years experience in the public sector and 10 years in the private sector.

H. Clifton Grandy Grandy is a Senior Court Manager of the District of Columbia Courts and has over 20 years experience in judicial and court administration. He staffs the Standing Committee on Fairness and Access to the DC Courts. Previously, he was a Senior Staff Attorney with the National Center for State Courts and as a Judicial Officer.

Phil Hahn [alternate for Kimberly Paarlberg] Hahn represents the International Code Council (ICC) on the Committee as an alternate. The ICC was established in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. The ICC represents over 54,000 members in 10,000 jurisdictions throughout the country.

Gregory L. Harmon Harmon represents the Accessibility Equipment Manufacturers Association (AEMA) on the Committee. He is President of National Wheel-O-Vator Co., which manufactures accessibility equipment, including lifts and elevators. He is co-chair of the AEMA Codes and Standards Committee. Harmon also chairs the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) A18 Committee which maintains the A18.1 Safety Standard for Platform Lifts and Stairway Chairlifts. The A18 Committee, which was established in 1996 to develop standards for lifts separately from the elevator code, is currently developing new rules for special application lifts, including courtroom lifts.

Eve L. Hill, Committee Co-Chair Hill is Executive Director of the Disability Rights Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that defends the civil rights of people with disabilities. At the Center, she has been involved in litigation against inaccessible court systems and has conducted courthouse site visits, reviewed transition plans and self evaluations, and interviewed lawyers, clients, and jurors with disabilities. Before joining the Center in 1998, she was a Supervisory Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Disability Rights Section where she supervised investigations and resolutions of ADA complaints against state and local government facilities, including court facilities, and oversaw the Department’s ADA Certification Program.

Honorable Michael R. Hogan Judge Hogan has served as a U.S. District Judge since 1991 and assumed the responsibilities of Chief Judge for the District of Oregon from 1995 to 2002. He is a member of the American Bar Association, the Oregon State Bar Association, the Lane County Bar Association, and the Federal Judges Association, among others.

Philip A. Hohenlohe Hohenlohe is a staff attorney at the Montana Advocacy Program (MAP), a designated civil rights protection and advocacy system in the state. He has spearheaded MAP’s courthouse initiative. MAP has been active in the issue of courthouse accessibility, having filed suit against a county courthouse and having conducting of all 56 county courthouses in the state.

Steven C. Hollon Hollon represents the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA), an association of the chief administrative officers in each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and U.S. commonwealths and territories. He is the Administrative Director of the Supreme Court of Ohio. He was elected to the Board of Directors of COSCA and serves as co-chair of the COSCA Joint Committee on Access to and Fairness in the Courts with the Conference of Chief Justices. He also serves as COSCA’s representative to the ADA Resource Center for State Courts.

Honorable Frederick P. Horn Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of California, County of Orange, Judge Horn oversees a system of seven courthouses and 143 bench officers. He represents the California Administrative Office of the Courts on the Committee. He has been involved in Judicial Branch administration and policy throughout his career and serves as an advisory member of the California Judicial Council. He is a member and former chair of the Judicial Council’s Advisory Committee on Access and Fairness and serves as an advisor to the Orange County Superior Court ADA Advisory Committee.

Rocco J. Iacullo Iacullo is a Staff Attorney for the Disabilities Law Project, a nonprofit statewide public interest law firm that provides legal assistance and other services to people with disabilities, their organizations, families, and advocates. He has been directly involved in cases involving barriers to housing, transportation, public accommodations, and government programs and services.

Tracy Ralph Justesen [alternate for Janet L. Blizard] Justesen is an attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice who serves as part of the team responsible for developing rules and regulations concerning the Americans with Disabilities Act and other laws. He previously served as associate director for the Domestic Policy Council at The White House.

Cheryl L. Killam As the Accessibility Specialist for the New Hampshire Governor’s Commission on Disability, Killam provides technical assistance on state and Federal accessibility codes and laws. She is involved in plan review, facility surveys, and monitoring of access improvements. Killam also provides training on disability awareness and accessibility requirements to architects, code officials, businesses, educators, and others. Before joining the Commission in 2002, she served as a member of the Commission and as a member and chair of the New Hampshire Architectural Barrier-Free Design Committee for over 15 years, while working as a middle school teacher and an investigator of rights violations for Developmental Services.

Kleo J. King King has worked at the United Spinal Association (formerly Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association) for over 17 years and is a member of the Virginia and New York State bars. She has served on the Bar Association of the City of New York’s Committee on Issues Affecting People with Disabilities for seven years, the last three as its chair.

Gate Lew, AIA Lew is the Senior Architect and Chief for the Facilities Operations Group, Space and Facilities Division of the Administrative Office of the U.S Courts. The Group is responsible for monitoring all prospectus and non prospectus, new renovation, and alteration courthouse design and construction projects which are overseen by the Space and Facilities Division for compliance with the needs of the Federal judiciary. Lew oversees a staff of architects and engineers responsible for ensuring the Federal judiciary receives space appropriate to the mission of the United States Courts in accordance with the U.S. Courts Design Guide. He also serves as staff to the Committee on Security and Facilities.

Mark Lichter, AIA [alternate for Maureen McCloskey] Lichter is Associate Director of Architecture at the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), a Congressionally chartered veterans service organization with over 20,000 members. Its members are honorably discharged veterans with spinal cord injuries or disease. He designs and reviews plans for a variety of facilities through PVA’s Architectural Program.

Maureen McCloskey McCloskey is the National Advocacy Director for the Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), a Congressionally chartered veterans service organization with over 20,000 members. Its members are honorably discharged veterans with spinal cord injuries or disease. PVA has been active in the passage, implementation, and enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Nancy McNabb, AIA McNabb represents the National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA) on the Committee. NFPA serves as the world's leading advocate of fire prevention by providing and advocating scientifically-based consensus codes and standards, research, training, and education. Its membership totals more than 75,000 individuals from around the world. As NFPA’s Director of Government Affairs, she works with congressional and federal agencies, as well as allied organizations, to promote NFPA policies and positions.

Gordon “Sam” Overton, Committee Co-Chair [alternate for Judge Frederick P. Horn] Overton has been a Deputy Attorney General at the California Department of Justice since 1976. Early in his tenure, he was the principal attorney responsible for enforcing California architectural barriers laws throughout the state. Since 1994, he has served on the California Judicial Council’s Access and Fairness Advisory Committee, an administrative arm of the state judiciary responsible for advising the courts on ways to eliminate or reduce bias and discrimination, including on the basis of disability. In this capacity, he has developed reports and training programs and materials on disability issues and access to the courts.

Kimberly Paarlberg, RA Paarlberg is a Senior Staff Architect at the International Code Council (ICC), which was established in 1994 as a nonprofit organization dedicated to developing a single set of comprehensive and coordinated national model construction codes. The ICC represents over 54,000 members in 10,000 jurisdictions throughout the country. Kim is the code development secretary for Means of Egress and Accessibility. Kim works with federal agencies to coordinate accessibility requirements with the codes. She conducts building accessibility plans reviews, provides code interpretations, conducts technical seminars, and authors and reviews instruction materials and code commentary. Kim is a member of the ICC/ANSI A117.1 committee.

Paula Pearlman [alternate for Eve L. Hill] Pearlman is Deputy Director of Advocacy Programs at the Disability Rights Legal Center, a nonprofit organization that defends the civil rights of people with disabilities. At the Center, she has been involved in litigation against inaccessible court systems and has conducted courthouse site visits, review transition plans and self evaluations, and interviewed lawyers, clients, and jurors with disabilities.

Luis F. Pitarque, RA A Project Manager/ Project Architect with HDR Architecture, Inc., Pitarque has over 23 years experience in programming, planning, design, and management on various large, complex projects with an exclusive focus on court projects for the past 12 years. He has been involved in U.S. courthouses and Federal buildings through the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts and the General Services Administration.

James B. Reed Reed is a partner in the law firm of Baird, Williams and Greer, LLP. He has been active in public health issues for 20 years, and has been involved in polling place issues for the past eight years. Reed chairs the Courthouse Accessibility Subcommittee for the State Bar of Arizona Committee on Persons in the Legal Profession with Disabilities. During the past year, the Committee toured city, county, federal and tribal courthouses throughout Arizona to determine accessibility and to provide recommendations.

Honorable Susan W. Roberts Judge Roberts represents the 10th Judicial Circuit of Florida on the Committee where she has served as a Circuit Court Judge since 1984. Previous to her tenure as a Circuit Judge, she served as a county judge for eight years and has nearly 30 years experience on the bench as a trial judge and administrative judge.

Tom Rowe, AIA Rowe is a principal with Michael Graves & Associates, a professional architectural design firm located in Princeton, New Jersey and New York City. He has worked at Michael Graves & Associates since 1984 and manages one of Mr. Grave’s four design studios. He has been involved in numerous civic building projects, including a Federal courthouse in Washington, D.C.

Robert W. Schwartz, AIA, LEED APSchwartz has been a leader in the planning and design effort for Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. (HOK) on significant court projects throughout the United States.. He was also a major contributor to the National Center for State Courts’ The Courthouse: A Planning and Design Guide for Court Facilities. He has served on a Federal panel of architects, engineers, contractors and developers to establish methods to reduce the cost of Federal courthouses.

Marlene Walli Shade, AIA LEEDAP Shade is an architect with PSA-Dewberry, Inc., which is involved in courts planning and design on a national, state, and local level. The work of her firm has included design of new facilities and retrofit of existing facilities for accessibility, as well as compliance reviews through a contract with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

Honorable Norma L. Shapiro A U.S. District Court judge since 1978, Judge Shapiro represents the American Bar Association (ABA) on the Committee and is a member of its Board of Governors. She has chaired the District Judges’ Association, the Justice Center Coordinating Council of the ABA, the Executive Committee of the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges, and the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Tom Shield Shield is President of T.L. Shield & Associates, Inc., a contractor/ manufacturer specializing in accessibility, particularly in courtrooms. Over the past 15 years, his firm has manufactured and installed custom lifts, installing more than 500 lifts in Federal and municipal courts.

Evelyn Southworth [alternate for Tom Shield] Southworth is an Associate at T.L. Shield & Associates, Inc., a contractor/ manufacturer specializing in accessibility, particularly in courtrooms. Over the past 15 years, her firm has manufactured and installed custom lifts, installing more than 500 lifts in Federal and municipal courts. She has managed over 25 courthouse projects.

Nick Sudzina [alternate for Judge Susan W. Roberts] Sudzina has served as the Court Administrator for the 10th Judicial Circuit of Florida since 1985. He previously served as the Director of Juvenile Court for the 10th Judicial Circuit from 1971 to 1985.

Stephanie Vierra Vierra has over 17 years experience developing educational and outreach programs tailored to architectural practitioners, faculty, students, and others in the building industry. Special areas of concentration include: architectural education, research, and public awareness of architectural issues at a national and international level. At Steven Winter Associates, Inc., she is responsible for editing and managing technical content on the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) website; writing and marketing for the WBDG and other projects; and assisting with architectural program development and implementation for federal contracts and private clients.

Thomas N. Williams, AIA [alternate for Robert Andrukonis] On the Committee, Williams represents the General Services Administrative (GSA) where he serves as National Accessibility Officer in the Office of the Chief Architect. In this capacity, Williams also serves as GSA’s liaison to the U.S. Access Board. A registered and licensed architect in the District of Columbia, he has a 37-year architectural background spanning both the private and public sectors. His private sector portfolio includes multi-million dollar renovation projects, condominium projects, retail stores and custom homes. He has held architectural positions in several Federal agencies, including the National Naval Medical Hospital, the National Institutes of Health and the GSA Central Office.

Steven Winkel, AIA [alternate for James L. Beight] Winkel represents the American Institute of Architects (AIA) on the Committee. The AIA represents the professional interests of 72,000 licensed architects and allied professionals.

Roy Wynn Wynn represents the National Association for Court Management (NACM), which is dedicated to the advancement of the court management profession with approximately 2,500 members from local, state, and Federal courts. Wynn has 18 years experience as the Director of the Special Operations Division at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. His duties include overseeing the Jurors’ Office and the Office of Court Interpreting Services, and he has been responsible for ensuring access for, and accommodation of, jurors with disabilities.

Chang-Ming Yeh Yeh has been a judicial facility planner with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) since 1987. NCSC is an independent non-profit corporation with the mission to improve the administration of justice through leadership and service to state courts and to justice systems around the world. He has worked extensively in the area of facility and security planning for state and local court systems, including providing technical assistance to courts on ADA court facility accessibility compliance. He is the author of the Americans with Disabilities Act Court Facility Reference Guide (NCSC 1992) and the co-author of The Courthouse: A Planning and Design Guide for Court Facilities (NCSC 1991).

Access Board Liaison and Staff

Denis Pratt, AIA, Public Member and CAAC Liaison Pratt is a licensed architect in Maine and New Hampshire who specializes in accessible and universal design. Since 1992, he has been employed by Alpha One, an Independent Living Center in Portland, Maine that provides technical assistance and training on making public facilities and housing accessible. A resident of Kennebunk, Maine, Pratt was appointed as a Public Member to the U.S. Access Board by President Bush in December, 2002. He serves on a number of technical committees and is currently Chair of the Planning and Evaluation Committee, one of three Access Board standing committees. Denis was named as Board representative to the Courthouse Access Advisory Committee because of his knowledge and experience in the surveying and assessing 46 Courthouse facilities in his home state of Maine.

Dave Yanchulis, Staff Member Yanchulis is an accessibility specialist with the U.S. Access Board since 1988, Yanchulis provides training and technical assistance on the Board’s guidelines and standards, including those issued under the ADA. He has been active in the development and update of the Board’s ADA Accessibility Guidelines (ADAAG) and played a lead role in supplementing ADAAG to cover state and local government facilities. He also serves as the Board’s Coordinator for Public Affairs and oversees various outreach initiatives.

Elizabeth Stewart, Public Member/ Former Staff Member Stewart is an attorney in Florida whose practice focuses on family law. She previously served 20 years as the Access Board’s Deputy General Counsel. At the Board, Stewart was active in the development of accessibility guidelines for facilities, public rights-of-way, and passenger vessels under the ADA as well as standards for accessible electronic and information technology under the Rehabilitation Act. She also supervised the Board’s Compliance and Enforcement Office, served as the Board’s Ethics Officer, and was instrumental in organizing the Board’s Courthouse Access Advisory Committee.